Creating digital video and/or media content for distribution, broadcast, or, streaming over the Internet, is a competitive business. Although hardware and software applications have become more accessible to video publishers, a user must have at least some advanced knowledge of video codecs, format requirements, content players, file types, software functionality, etc., in order to create and distribute the published video across varying platforms.
In order for a publisher of content to distribute the content to third parties, several intermediate operations are required. In one example, a minimum of twelve operations may be required to create and distribute video content. In operation 1, a user connects a video camera to a computer. In operation 2, the user opens a first software application (i.e., editing software). At operation 3, the user must select an import type and settings for the video to transfer onto the computer for editing. In operation 4, the user edits the video via an editing software application. In operation 5, the user sets a file output for export that coincides with formats accepted by their respective compression and transcoding software application. In operation 6, the user opens a second software application (i.e., compression and transcoding software). In operation 7, the user determines an output format and sets the destination settings. In operation 8, the user identifies an output file on the computer and renames the files for purposes of identification and distribution. In operation 9, the user opens a third software application (i.e., a FTP client) that will allow the video to be uploaded to web servers. At operation 10, the user must open every web server bin individually where they wish to store the final video output file. At operation 11, the user manually transfers the final video output file to a selected web server bin(s). Finally, at operation 12, the user must open every video file in every video bin that will serve the video and must configure the respective user settings (i.e., permissions).
Many of the software tools that are used in the video editing and distribution process are proprietary to either Microsoft Windows©, Apple, or various open source initiatives (OSIs). Microsoft created a software application called Windows workflow foundation (WF) and Apple created a similar application called Automator. Both software tools provide assistance for a user to create workflow solutions that remedy tasks. However, each tool requires a significant amount of training before being effectively implemented by an experienced user. Neither tool is capable of managing the complexities associated with interfacing with multiple software programs specifically designed for video creation and distribution.
Advanced content programmers using both “Automator” by Apple or “Windows workflow foundation” from Microsoft are unable to achieve an automated process for compression through distribution. Neither of these programming tools store passwords for accessing remote server storage bins which may be necessary for distribution of video across multiple websites. Modules within open source applications, which may, for example, utilize Drupal, Ruby, Linux, or similar software applications, help streamline distribution to multiple sites, but, these applications do not integrate with editing software to remove the manual tasks associated with completing a video file for distribution across websites. In addition, these existing technologies require a user to have expertise in all intermediate operations necessary to create video for distribution.
Other software applications may shorten the video creation workflow with the addition of multiple format output files. However, none of the software packages manage the compression, publishing, distributing and/or version settings encountered during a content publication and distribution procedure. Every existing product available on the market requires manual intervention to proceed in the workflow procedures. For example, AVS Video Converter 6.2, TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress and ROXIO Crunch (all Windows based applications) only create video files and have nothing to do with compressing, transcoding, publishing, and distributing video content over the Internet.
Video publishers and distributors often experience incompatibility with their application platforms. For example, neither WF nor Automator were designed with the capability to recognize the completion of tasks in one software application and trigger the next stage of activity within a new software program. In addition, common software application packages available today only provide the most basic video editing tools for the end user. For example, Table 1 illustrates example editing programs.
TABLE 1Video Editing SoftwarePackagesQuickTimeWindows MediaAdobe Premiere ProYesYesAdobe PremiereYesYesElementsAvid Xpress DVYesYesAvid Xpress ProYesYesBlenderYesNoCinelerraYesYesEDIUS Pro/BroadcastYesYesFinal Cut ExpressYesYes (3rd party)Final Cut StudioYesYes (3rd party)FORsceneYes (MPEG 2)Yes (MPEG 2)iMovie HDYesYes (3rd party)KdenliveYesYesKino GTKNoNoLiVESYesYesSerif MoviePlusYesYesSony VegasYesYesPinnacle StudioYesYesUlead MediaStudio ProYesYesUlead VideoStudio PlusYesYesMerging TechnologiesYesYesVCubeVideo Edit MagicYesYesWindows Movie MakerNoYes
Each of the above-noted example editing applications are limited to video editing only and do not provide any flexibility or options regarding compression, transcoding or distribution of video and other related information to the final destination (i.e., website, etc.).